[3830] CQ160 CW W2GD Multi-Op HP

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                    CQ 160-Meter Contest, CW

Call: W2GD
Operator(s): K2PS, K2SG, K2TW, N2HM, N2OO, W1GD, W2CG, W2GD, W2NO, W2OB, W2RQ
Station: W2GD

Class: Multi-Op HP
QTH: NJ - Ocean County
Operating Time (hrs): 39.5

Summary:
Total:  QSOs = 1904  State/Prov = 58  Countries = 79  Total Score = 1,332,462

Club: Frankford Radio Club

Comments:

Location:  On Barnagat Bay, West Creek, NJ, 20 miles north of Atlantic City.

Run Station:  IC-756ProIII, IC-746, Alpha 91B, 1.5 KW
Mult. Stn:  IC-756ProIII, Alpha 76PA 1 KW
Software:  WIN-TEST 
Antennas:  2 ele Vert Wire Beams NE and W, Vertical Dipole, Beverages NE, E, S,
SW, W, NW

WOW....again, another WOW!  Its still hard to believe conditions were so
good.....and two nights in a row to boot....unheard of.....after several years
of CQWW 160 CW weekends that never quite lived up to our pre-contest
expectations at the bottom of the sunspot cycle.  We'll certainly be talking
about this one for years and years to come.  

This was a total TEAM EFFORT and the best I've seen in 2+ decades of 160M M/S
operations.  Everyone in our group gave this event their very best, and the
results speak for themselves.  Thanks for stepping up guys!

Due to business commitments, I started the contest weekend 1500 miles away at
NR5M in STX.  Delayed concrete work pushed back a planned business trip K4ZA
and I originally scheduled the week before.  So circumstances made it possible
for Don and I to give the new 160M TX antenna we'd erected last fall (a 5 ele.
parasitic array) some meaningful testing.  And it was terrific!  In less than 8
hours of operation, 68 countries were logged, including EY8MM and scores of
Europeans.  Another big WOW.....working Europeans first call from SOUTH TEXAS!
Can it get any better?

Unfortunately the winds were too strong Saturday morning to attempt raising a 3
ele 80M yagi up to its planned home at 130'.  Managed a few more QSOs before
leaving for the airport in the afternoon.  My biggest regret was having to be
in transit back to the east coast on Saturday evening - missing what would turn
out to be one of the more exciting periods of the contest.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Here is a description of the West Creek operation by someone who was there much
of the weekend, Bob N2OO:

What an exciting contest! Running Europe and beyond both nights was as if we
were on 20 meters! I have usually been on the mop up crew for these operations
doing the "deep night" duty since I live so close to the site. But this year
since John, W2GD wasn’t going to be able to participate for most of the
contest, and it seemed that the team might be a tad light, I made a point to
dedicate most of the weekend to the effort. I actually spent both nights at the
site this time, and WOW, was I glad I did! The camaraderie and cohesiveness of
the team was exceptional! Kudo’s to each and every team member! We all had a
ball! It was really exciting to search out needed multipliers and then do high
5’s when we got them! We needed ND and WY! Looked pretty bad going into
Saturday night! But sure enough, we got them both! As a matter of fact, we
worked several ND almost in a row! Then finally, we found the only WY station
posted, worked him and a short time later another WY came along and called in.

What worked at the station? Almost everything. We kept the Northeast TX sloper
array in play for almost the entire EU run on both evenings exclusively running
10 pointers in Europe! It was insane! Friday night was the better of the two
nights with a steady EU opening that was rocking from the start and continued
till at least 0800 UTC! Yeah, 10 hours straight of EU! Also, I can’t remember
ever running 10 pointers in the first couple of hours of this contest like this!
Saturday evening started OK, then dipped,  EU was still workable but mostly
weaker. But then sometime around midnight local (0500) a switch was turned and
all hell broke loose again, adding nearly 150 ten pointers in just two hours!
Europe started to be workable both days from 2100 UTC forward! We were still in
bright daylight! Same was true for EU sunrise with many EU stations noted to be
in full daylight as well. I can’t wait to see some of the stats to find out
the 10 pointer ratios per hour! Only disappointment was  not working many
JA’s, just 4. Hearing that direction seemed to be our only weakness. We will
have to work on the NW beverage for next year and make it as good as the NE if
possible! Also, although it most likely did not play an important role in this
contest, I think we need to replace the east beverage. Also, I think all
beverages need to be terminated to null the building and any potential noise
issues emanating from it.

By the way, it was also worth noting that all beverages performed quite well.
No weird paths were noted. Only issue was NW this time.

Finally, I felt the operation of the run station vs. the multiplier station ran
quite smoothly this year. There was a smooth transition from letting the run
station run EU into letting the multiplier station get more active gradually as
time wore on. By Saturday, the multiplier station became very important hunting
out new multipliers at first and then easing into working anything at all new.
It just ran quite smoothly this year! And the 40 hour limit seemed to work
quite well giving us needed relief during the daylight hours.

Finally, this year’s team really got along quite well together! That in
itself had a lot to do with the score.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Now some quick statistics:

690 EU
 12 AS
 11 SA
  6 AF
  2 OC

Total 10 point QSOs:  721

Between 0500 and 0700 UTC on 1/25/2009, we worked 156 stations of which 147
were EU ten pointers.  It doesn't get much better from this side of the pond.

After attending a family social event Sunday, I managed to finally get down to
the station and operate the last hour of the contest, adding a handful of
additional ten pointers to the total....still in daylight!

This was an amazing weekend regardless of where you might have been operating
from worldwide.  The new start/end times and limit on total M/S operating time
were a big improvement...the rule changes implemented by N2NT are great - TNX
Andy!

One last note.  We'd like to see more of the M/S gang using automated score
reporting during the contest.  It was really fun and exciting to watch the lead
swap back and forth nearly two dozen times on Friday and Saturday.....those
pesky ops up at W1UE/W1KM and K1LZ really kept our team hopping!  And at the
time we didn't know we were probably trailing behind WE3C and K9RS.  That
fantastic run of EU I mentioned earlier probably saved the day for us.... it
was a real horse race this weekend right to the end....but we didn't know at
the time just how close a race had developed.  Congrats to our fellow FRCers at
K9RS and WE3C for their great competition, and to the teams at W1UE and K1LZ for
keeping us on our toes!  And finally, a big thank you to each and every station
that made the time to operate this contest and give out contacts.....the growth
in interest and activity really made it self evident this year!

We again thank the owners of WYRS-FM for their continued support and for
allowing us to use of their wonderful facilities in West Creek, NJ.

We plan to be back again next contest season.....hopefully with a few more
antenna and station improvements.  

QSL direct via W2CG or use LOTW.

73,

John W2GD for the TEAM



P.S Please look for our SJDXA brothers during the CQ160 PH weekend.  They will
be operating from West Creek under the call N2CW.


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